Astros sign Ankiel, extend spring training invite

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Rick Ankiel began his career as a pitcher, but established himself as a good defensive outfielder with a serviceable bat. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

One of the biggest reclamation projects in baseball history will attempt to make the regular-season roster of the team undergoing the sport’s largest organizational rebuild.

Rick Ankiel was an 11-game winner as a lefthanded pitcher with St. Louis in 2000. He hit 25 home runs as an outfielder with the Cardinals in 2008. Now, the 33-year-old who hit just .228 in 68 games with Washington in 2012 will attempt to extend his career with the Astros. General manager Jeff Luhnow said Thursday the Astros agreed to a contract with Ankiel and extended a non-roster spring training invitation to the 10-year veteran.

Ankiel will compete for a spot in the Astros’ outfield, where the team is especially thin. Fernando Martinez, Justin Maxwell, J.D. Martinez and Brandon Barnes, among others, are expected to vie for playing time during spring training. There are no plans to return Ankiel to the mound.

“The reason we signed him is because we wanted to improve our outfield,” Luhnow said. “We’ve got a lot of players in the mix right now. But he’s got the most experience out of all of them. So he’s got a pretty good chance to make the club, I’d say.”

Ankiel struggled during his last two seasons with the Nationals and hasn’t hit above .239 since 2008, when he batted .264 with 71 RBIs and an .843 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 120 games for St. Louis. But the Astros believe he still has offensive power, and his arm once made him one of the top defensive outfielders — and among the most promising young pitchers — in the game.

Injuries and inconsistency have limited Ankiel over the last three seasons while playing for Washington, Atlanta and Kansas City.

“He runs well. He has a plus-plus arm. He can play all three outfield positions,” Luhnow said. “He hasn’t hit in the last couple years as much as he did when he first came up. But we believe he’s still young enough and athletic enough and smart enough to make some adjustments and hopefully get back to where he was when he was in his groove.”

A 10-year MLB run with the Cardinals made Ankiel’s name. A second-round pick out of Port St. Lucie (Fla.) High School in 1997, Ankiel went 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings during 2000 with St. Louis. He fell apart on the mound during the playoffs, however, posting a 15.75 ERA in three total appearances in the National League Division Series and Championship Series. In his four postseason innings that year, he walked 11.

Ankiel barely played in 2001 and was heavily protected by the Cardinals while attempting to regain his control. He didn’t play in the majors in 2002, then returned to the game in 2007 as a line drive-hitting, sharp-armed outfielder. Ankiel averaged 15.7 homers from 2007-09 with the Cardinals, but his numbers have fallen off since 2010, a year in which he signed with Kansas City as a free agent before being traded to Atlanta on July 31.

“He’s still athletic. He’s so gifted,” said Luhnow, who was St. Louis’ minor league farm director when Ankiel was “crushing” the ball in Class AAA during his comeback.

Astros pitchers and catchers report Feb. 11 for spring training in Kissimmee, Fla., with the roster presently at the maximum of 40. On Thursday, the Astros extended non-roster invites to 17 players besides Ankiel, including second baseman Delino DeShields and center fielder George Springer.

First baseman Jonathan Singleton, who recently failed a minor league drug test and is suspended for the initial 50 games of 2013, was not invited to spring training.

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